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Gibson Consulting Group is always looking for qualified individuals who share our passion and mission.

Current Employment Opportunities

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Performance Auditor / Consultant

Do you have Big 4 experience and are ready to escape the rat race? Be part of a company that is making a difference in public education! Gibson Consulting Group, a privately-held nationally recognized K-12 education consulting and research firm based in Austin, Texas, is looking for talented and energetic people to support our firm’s growth in the performance audit / efficiency service areas.

Our firm’s mission is to better the lives of students by providing exemplary consulting and research services that make educational systems more efficient and effective. We take this responsibility seriously…and we also have fun doing it. The firm was founded in 1998 by Greg Gibson, one of the nation’s leading experts on school system efficiency and management practices. Gibson has worked in over 250 school systems in 27 states including six of the largest school systems in the United States. The firm has developed a reputation for delivering high-quality assistance to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of K-12 education at the state, regional, and school district levels. Gibson provides services in four broad areas: performance audits, management consulting, technology and information management, and academic research and evaluation.

Gibson conducts performance audits and provides consulting services for school districts either as direct engagements with district administration or through the board of trustees in supporting their internal audit function.

Summary

The candidate filling this position will be responsible for conducting, supervising, and leading a wide range of performance audits and efficiency studies for school districts. Gibson conducts performance audits of virtually every aspect of school system operations, including business office functions, human resources, technology, academic programs, and auxiliary operations (e.g., facilities, transportation).

Essential Functions

Performing data analysis – the candidate must be able to perform analysis of financial and operational data using Microsoft Excel functions (e.g., pivot tables, VLOOKUP, nested IF statements). The ideal candidate will be able to analyze data and interpret results and relationships to draw meaningful conclusions.

Performing process analysis – the candidate must be able to develop and analyze process maps using Microsoft Visio to determine process inefficiencies, control weaknesses, and other issues that inform recommendations for improvement.

Conducting client interviews – the candidate will be expected to conduct interviews of senior district leadership as well as staff involved in the various aspects of the day-to-day work in school systems. The candidate must be able to exercise diagnostic skills in identifying and understanding potential problems.

Executing client and project team communications – the candidate must be able to communicate effectively and professionally through written and verbal communications as well as possess strong listening skills.

Developing reports – the candidate must be able to write well organized and fully supported findings and recommendations in a clear and succinct manner that is free of technical jargon.

Delivering client presentations – the candidate will be expected to convey and defend our recommendations in a highly professional and concise presentation in front of district leaders and school boards in public meetings.

Developing proposals – the candidate will be expected to work with our proposal manager in developing project scopes, work plans, and budgets.

Qualifications

Current Certified Public Accountant licensure required

At least five years of experience in public accounting with a “Big 4” or large regional firm

MBA beneficial but not required

Experience in the K-12 education industry beneficial but not required

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

The candidate for this position will possess knowledge in auditing and/or consulting and embody the following skills:

Senior Research Scientist (Principal Investigator Level)

EMPLOYER PROFILE

We are a small research team based in Austin, Texas that is made up of passionate and intellectually curious researchers. We conduct policy-relevant research at the district, state, and federal levels, exploring interesting education research questions informed by some of the most pressing, challenging problems confronting educators, researchers, and policymakers today. Our work is funded through contracts with local, state, and federal agencies, and through grants from government agencies and private funders. We regularly partner with some of the largest social policy research companies in the world. We are looking to grow our team with an experienced education researcher who shares our energy and enthusiasm for tackling complex problems, whether it be designing a randomized controlled trial to test the impacts of a novel instructional approach, using quasi-experimental methods to evaluate the effectiveness of a district’s educator incentive and compensation model, or using survey research methods to measure stakeholder opinion on the quality of a district’s schools.

SUMMARY

This position is for a mid-level to senior-level researcher with a strong background in quantitative research methods in education research and evaluation. This position will be responsible for conducting education research and evaluating education programs for school districts, states, regional education service centers, education research centers, foundations, federal education agencies, and other public and private organizations. The position will involve a leadership role in: a) project management, b) technical methods relating to a variety of research studies, 3) supervision of quantitative analyses and results reporting, 4) execution of quantitative analyses and results reporting, and 5) new business development. These responsibilities all relate to applied education research and program evaluation that utilize quantitative and qualitative methods.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

Provide a leadership role in the development of research frameworks that measure the impact of programs on interim and long-term outcomes, or that answer key questions in the current field of education research.

Provide mentorship and guidance to a team of quantitative analysts responsible for managing, cleaning, and analyzing large-scale district, state, or other public and private educational datasets.

Communicate results of statistical analyses through written reports, presentations, briefings, scorecards, and other products.

Provide statistical consulting to clients regarding the appropriate use of existing data.

Contribute expertise, support, and leadership for the development of evaluation or research proposals in response to competitive funding opportunities issued by school districts, state education agencies, the federal government, and private foundations.

Direct and manage complex components of large projects or for a series of smaller projects with responsibility for budget management, task delegation, project deliverables, and client relations.

Contribute to the improvement and implementation of processes ensuring the integrity and quality of research activities and project deliverables.

REQUIRED AND PREFERRED SKILLS

The candidate must be flexible and willing to fulfill a variety of roles in the Research and Evaluation (R&E) team. These roles include the responsibilities typically associated with project directorship, including overseeing and contributing to proposal development with a particular focus on the methodological components of the effort, oversight of all phases of the project, and project and staff management and task delegation. In addition, the candidate will be expected to serve as a methodological leader across projects within the R&E unit, and retain responsibility over a portfolio of quantitative tasks on projects they lead, as well as projects led by other managing research staff. Thus, this position is ideal for candidates who are interested in balancing project and staff leadership obligations with those of a senior methodologist and quantitative analyst.

Required

A Ph.D. in a social science field, such as political science, economics, psychology, educational psychology, sociology, human development, etc.

At least 8 years of experience in education research.

A strong background in quantitative research methods, defined broadly to including econometrics, applied statistics, or psychometrics.

Demonstrated experience in new business development and client relationship management, including effective, independent proposal writing.

Proven experience managing complex research projects.

Strong familiarity with quasi-experimental and experimental research designs applied to education research and evaluation problems.

Expertise in a statistical programming language, including Stata, R, or SAS (Stata or R are strongly preferred)

Preferred

The ideal candidate is motivated to independently pursue interesting, meaningful, and satisfying work in education research.

The ideal candidate will be interested in mentoring, supervising, and supporting the quantitative work of Gibson’s Research and Evaluation unit.

EMPLOYMENT CONDITIONS, EXPECTATIONS, AND ASSURANCES

This position will require 40 hours of work per week, usually Monday through Friday. The ability to travel 10%-20% of the time is required.

The position is in Austin, Texas. Gibson offers a competitive salary, opportunities for performance and business development-based bonuses, generous vacation and personal leave, retirement benefits that include 401(k) matching, employer contributions to health insurance (75% of the employee cost), and the possibility of flexible/remote working arrangements.

The salary range is $110,000 to $150,000, and placement within the range will be based on the candidate’s experience as well as business development acumen. Additional bonus compensation is available based on performance and business development depending on the financial position of the firm.

Gibson Consulting Group, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer. To learn more about us, please visit www.gibsonconsult.com. To apply please send a cover letter and CV to: bfrank@gibsonconsult.com or complete the Submit Your Resume form below.

Consultants

Join us as a member of our team with competitive compensation and benefits, including:

Health Insurance

401(k) plan with company matching

Disability Insurance

8 paid holidays

22 to 27 days of leave per year, based on length of employment

Subcontractors

Create an association with Gibson Consulting Group and be included in occasional projects, working on a 1099 basis.